I’ve also seen impressive private collections, like that of rock icon Melissa Etheridge.

Guitars are playable art.

And sometimes a good investment.

I love them.

And no, you can never have enough.

I suspected a luthier with Tony’s decades of experience might be open to a bold idea.

I wondered –

What if I acted like a patron saint of the arts and commissioned him to create something visionary from his own mind, not mine?

Tony accepted the challenge in 2014.

For the next two years he read, thought, dreamed and wondered.

He also came to my home and spent a day examining my own collection, from the Fylde guitar made out of a former Scotch whiskey barrel, to Danelectros with their lipstick pickups, to an Oxford Guitars baritone electric made from gem stones and prehistoric wood.

I would also supply Tony with coffee table sized books about some of the greatest guitars of all time.

One book in particular became the resource for what would become the Dream Guitar.

The book was a hefty volume called Archtop Guitars: The Journey from Cremona to New York.

It displayed artistic photos and inside stories of museum quality guitars from three legends, D’Angelico, D’Aquisto and Monteleone. I had bought it from Rudy Pensa, the author and owner of Rudy’s Music in SOHO in New York.

Tony would later tell me, “Whatever I created had to be of the caliber of these guitars in this book, else what was I doing?”

Fast forward to October 20, 2016.

After almost two years of research and incubation, Tony showed me a sketch of an idea.

It was a light pencil outline on a torn off sheet of butcher paper, but I could see the vision being born.

I’m living my “bucket list” dream of being a musician by recording my fifth singer-songwriter album (my eleventh as a music artist).

The songs on this new album are apparently better than ever, as legendary musicians are saying the lyrics are “perfect” and “hypnotic” and “every song is a favorite.”

Drummer Joe Vitale

Drummer Joe Vitale – yes, he has the same name as me – who is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has created over 200 albums, with over 50 being gold (and many platinum) records – asked me how I came up with the songs for this new album.

Playing a Versoul baritone guitar on the new album

Here’s what I told him:

1. Intention

I have an intention to turn one of my messages into a song. In other words, I have positive messages – the ones I spend entire books writing about – and I want to morph them into songs people want to hear.

2. Inspiration

I have a Cuban cigar (now legal) and relax. Anything could help, as long as it relaxes me, and lets my mind drift. This mind wandering is what allows me to receive a song to match my intention.

3. Implementation

I pick up an acoustic guitar — usually the one Tony Nobles made for Ray Wylie Hubbard that I later bought – and just ad lib a song. I let it be nonsense or sense. I try not to judge too early. I want the song to come to me, from the muse or my mind, or the dance of both.

4. Record

I then turn on the voice recorder on my iPhone and record what is coming. This may be an entire song, a few chords, lyrics, or other snippet. Doesn’t matter. I record it.

5. Revise

I then transcribe the song, so I have the words on paper for me to tweak or approve. I usually spend a lot of time bringing the message into rhyme and polished form. I’ve learned you can polish inspiration.

From there, it’s a matter of living with the songs and seeing if they take more refined shape and that I really like them.

After that, it’s time to get my band together – Daniel Barrett, drummer Joe Vitale, Glenn Fukunaga and Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon – and see how they can help me arrange the music to fit the message. (Sometimes I have guest artists, as well. Grammy nominated singer Ruthie Foster sings on my new album.)

The result is a Hypnotic Song.

And because they are generally three minutes long, the songs are like 3-minute self-help books.

My new album – the one we just completed recording – contains the best songs I’ve ever written so far.

From rock to jazz to poetry to sing-a-long, there’s something for everyone.

Whatever your secret positive desire, you deserve to experience it. You’ll never know if you don’t try. Do it. Now.

2. I want you to set intentions and trust that inspiration will come to you as a result.

While intentions can be limitations, they can also be directives. Use them as starting points to “call forth” something great.

3. I want you to be fearless.

Being a musician in my sixties is a wild jump for me, yet it is not only working, but working flawlessly. My music is well received, my songs and singing are getting better and better, and I’m having a blast. Had I not faced the early doubts and fears, I would have missed this incredible life.

PS – I posted this brief video on Facebook and 12,000 people viewed it there. It’s a sneak peek at a song off the new album, with me describing the depth of it, and how it moves me. See http://youtu.be/xiELqAr1Exk or you can see it on the album site right here.

Footer Menu

Latest News

*Please be advised that due to the nature of the products which Hypnotic Marketing Inc. (“HMI”) and Joe Vitale are selling, there is no possibility of substantiating any claimed results made or supplying any objective evidence, whether financial, business related, spiritual or otherwise.
Full Disclosure Notice, Legal Notice, and Privacy statement can be read by clicking on the links below this statement.